congenital ptosis of right eye in 20 week old boy

[andri22]

Hi,
I am a 22 year old first time mom to a beautiful baby boy.
The first time I saw my son when he was born and the doctor layed him on my
chest, I noticed that one eye was opened wider than the other - but then he was rushed out of the
room a few seconds later to go to the neonatal care - whereas in all my pain I was unsure of what I saw to comment to the doctor.I later mentioned it to my husband who said that it was just that way because he was brand new. A few days later at his 1st pediatric appointment I mentioned it to the doctor whom responded by saying there was nothing wrong. I kept looking at the pictures my husband took of him in the L&D room and could see right away that something was wrong, though everyone kept saying I was imagining things - at about 2 months I finally took him to see an eye doctor who then said he had ptosis (droopy eyelid) of the right eye. He is now wearing a patch over his left eye to help strenghten the muscles in his right eye. The doctor said that his vision is fine - he can track with his eyes just fine but that we have to strenghten is right eyelid so that he does not develop lazy eye. My husband things that the patch is finally starting to work now , but i have doubts. My question is, how long would it take for the ptosis to go away and what are the chances that he would not have to do surgery on it? And what could have caused this to happen?

Thank you in advance

[nail_tech1989]

i was born with it too. it was passed down thru my family. i had it in both eyes. it doesnt go away. i was lucky not to have any problems with my vision but i was so conscious of it and got bullied. i now find out i could have gotten a lazy eye. wen i was 9, my mum went to the doctor and asked what could be done.  the doctor refused to referre me anywhere. but my mum persisted and chose to take me to moorfield eye hospital in london. where i was operated on. if you type in google 'biolateral congenital ptosis' you will be able to find out what the op entails. my only advice to you is - if u choose to have the operation, please research the hospital. my mum knew a few people from different hospitals who looked worse wen they came out than wen they went in. i was fine and couldnt be more pleased with my result, no-one even notices now. the worst part of my operation was merely sickness from the anaesthetic! good luck to you. and if u want to email me...nail_tech1989***@****

[KIRBY442]

I too was born with congenital ptosis...it dates back in my family at least 100 years +.  My youngest daughter who is now 6 weeks old was also born with it.  She is scheduled for surgery on April 10, 2008.  I should have had surgery in my child years, but my parents chose not to have it done... I am now 27. I developed amblyopia (the lazy eye) in my right, and I have found that it is starting to cross because the vision in my left is much stronger.  I am considering surgery for myself.
    My doctor told me the patch would help correct the vision, to make it dominent, but would not strengthen the muscle.  The ptosis won't go away unless corrected.  I wear glasses, along with the rest of my family, but my vision is not impaired by the ptosis, I just look tired all the time, and more than randomly take drug tests because it makes me look like I'm under the influence.  (Not something to brag about :-)
     As for my daughter, it took almost 3 and a half weeks before she could open her eyes, and her ptosis is so extreme, she has to have surgery now to develop the vision portion of her brain.  It's scary to think about, mostly because of the anaesthetic...I'm worried how it will effect her.  The procedure that they are planning is called Frontalis Sling.  She's having it done in Salt Lake City, UT at Primary Childrens Hospital...which also preformed my sister's (age 37), brother's (age 40) and 1 nephew's (age 17) surgery.  As for what causes it, all I have been told is that the muscle in the eyelid does not fully develope... I hope this helps, and know that it's not common, but not as un-common as people think.

[myboys003]

I know this is an old post but just wantd t add that two out of three of my boys have ptosis severly in both eyes.It has been passed down from my family.I have it and was born with it I have had two surgries as a child.My 6 year old is getting ready for his 3rd surgy at the end of this month.I wanted to stress it is important to do research on your doctors before you pick one for your child.Get refferls from other people who have children with this.I curantly am taking my sons to Dr Patel in Saltlake City Utah he is very good at this.I highly recomed him.This is an out patient procedure.Dr patel is located at the Moran eye instatue next to the childrens hospital.